More Indiana Jones 5

"I’m looking forward to it," added the actor. "Things are coming along well."

Interestingly, Variety originally had the quote as "should be starting to shoot sometime next week," which got everyone in a tizzy before they changed it later in the day to "next year." That makes more sense since we haven't really heard much about production ramping up at all, something that would be big news for Disney to promote.

Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Based on the change in phrasing, it looks longtime Indy director, Steven Spielberg, will be pursuing his West Side Story remake after all before tackling another mystical artifact hunt with Professor Henry Jones Jr. Nevertheless, the celebrated filmmaker also said last year that the project was supposed to begin shooting in April of this year, so the schedule is all out of wack. We won't really know much until the studio confirms.

In any case, Jonathan Kasdan, co-scribe of last summer's Solo: A Star Wars Story, was allegedly overseeing a "writers' room" for the final screenplay, which will harken back to the series' globetrotting roots.

During a recent guest spot on The Today Show, Ford said that no one else (not even fan favorites Chris Pratt or Chris Pine) should play the character once he retires the iconic role. Despite the fact that the entire franchise was influenced by James Bond, the concept of seeing a new actor take up the mantle (a prospect hinted at in Crystal Skull) has always been hard to swallow.

"Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones, don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones," Ford said with a laugh. “When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy ... This is a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine this. I’m sorry, man."

The first entry in the franchise to be released under the Disney banner, Indiana Jones 5 (there's no official title just yet) is slated to open in theaters on July 9, 2021.

Ford next appears in his first-ever animated role as the voice of Rooster, a wizened farm dog in The Secret Life of Pets 2. The movie opens this Friday, June 7.

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